lctweed

[lctweed]

What is the name of your state? New Jersey

My mother died on February 14, 2004. My father died on March 7, 2004.
They had an annuity with AIG. Each was the primary beneficiary on the annuity. Each parent listed me as the contingent beneficiary. AIG denied that I was the valid contingent beneficiary because my father died within three weeks of my mother. Therefore they paid the amount due to his estate. Is this legal? I requested a copy of the original contract and there isn't any language in that contract that states why a contingency beneficiary would be disallowed the proceeds. What should I do? AIG paid the check to the estate which I deposited into the estate account. According to my parents' will the estate is divided equally amongst their four children. The funds received from this annuity were distributed equally in four stirpes. Do I have a claim against AIG?

 

[BelizeBreeze]

AIG is correct. Upon your father's death the annuity is immediately payable to your mother. The fact that she subsequently died has no bearing on the responsibility of AIG to make payment to the official beneficiary.

Therefore, her beneficiary rights were protected and the payment went to her estate.

 

[lctweed]

Annuity Claim

My mother died first (February 14, 2004). My father died three weeks after my mother (March 7,2004). My father had me listed as the contingent beneficiary. Why would AIG pay his estate instead of the listed designated contingent beneficiary. What is the purpose of listing a contingent beneficiary if their (AIG) intention all along is to pay the deceased's estate if both primary beneficiaries are dead?

 

[BelizeBreeze]

My mother died first (February 14, 2004). My father died three weeks after my mother (March 7,2004). My father had me listed as the contingent beneficiary. Why would AIG pay his estate instead of the listed designated contingent beneficiary. What is the purpose of listing a contingent beneficiary if their (AIG) intention all along is to pay the deceased's estate if both primary beneficiaries are dead?

You are correct. I guess my dyslexia is back. I will allow that it sounds like they should have paid the contingent beneficiary however, I don't have a copy of the policy so I can't answer your question.

Have you had the policy reviewed by an attorney?

 

[Dandy Don]

The definition of a contingent beneficiary is the person who is paid when the primary beneficiary has died, so it does look like you should have been paid the monies.

Are you the executor of either your mother's estate or your father's?

You may have made a mistake by putting this check into the estate account for distribution instead of resolving the payee discrepancy. You should have returned the check to AIG and asked them to issue a new check only payable to you, or you should have explained to the executor that that money was yours alone and not to be distributed.

Now since the money has been distributed improperly, the executor needs to ask the beneficiaries to repay the money to the estate. It would help if the executor got a letter from AIG admitting that they made a mistake in how the check was issued, but I'm not sure whether or not you would have a claim to make against AIG since they paid out monies to SOMEBODY.

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])

 

[lctweed]

AIG Annunity

I am the Executrix of both my parents estates. Again, since my mother predeceased my father, I was listed as the sole, contingent beneficiary.
As with other policies that my parents had listing each other as prime beneficiaries, they listed contingent beneficiaries on these other policies--their four children. The other companies issued individual checks in equal amounts to each of the four contingent beneficiaries. Upon depositing the check from AIG into the esate account, I then distributed the monies in equal amounts to my two brothers and my sister. Since AIG distributed the monies incorrectly, it is now going to create a lot of controversy, harsh feelings and anger aimed at me. I don't wish to be alienated from my siblings. Shouldn't AIG bear the burden of responsibility regarding this mistake. Shouldn't there be checks and balances in place? Isn't this gross negligence on their part?
Is this in violation of any SEC rules?

 

[Dandy Don]

You should probably talk to a business law attorney about this to see how strong of a case you have.

I think you have grounds to go after AIG since technically they should have enough experience to know how to issue checks especially since you were named contingent beneficiary. However, I wonder if it would be worth the attorney fees and aggravation it would cost to sue them and I wonder if a jury or judge would rule in their favor when you are going to have to explain why you didn't return the check if you thought it was made out incorrectly, although your defense will certainly be ignorance of insurance company procedure and that their making the check out to you as administrator almost automatically forced you to deposit it in an estate account.

Maybe your attorney can review case law about this to see if it has happened before, but I still think it is a good idea to file a complaint with your state insurance commissioner because after it is investigated if the insurance company admits any fault/liability at least you will have a document to present in court to help bolster your case.

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])

 

[Grant-RTG]

I agree with Don.

Since you already distributed the funds, it might be harder to prove your point. However, as it looks now, an error was made on their part.